For folks educated way past their raisin' ... "Praecipitatum verius quam editum" --- By the Woulda-been Poet Lariat of the Shoulda-Been State of Sequoyah.

Monday, December 18, 2006

My Little Nephew

... has arrived from Dallas.

He is the oldest son of Big Big Sister, about four years older than me.

I've always said that I figured that when he got news of my arrival, in 1964, he ran to kindergarten and announced, "I have a new baby uncle!"

When I was 11 or so, at a big family reunion -- back when the ER family's reunions made for a story in the home county paper -- I jumped up on a dining room chair and put my arm around his tall shoulders and announced to all within earshot:

"This is my little nephew."

He got so embarrassed and pissed, as any 15-year-old would. But it's been a running joke just about ever since.

He spent some time with Mama ER tonight. Major blessing for all concerned, especially since I was unable to be there much for her today, partly working to arrange for the ability to spend more time with her every day for the next week.

Oh, I got permission from one of Mama ER's docs to "sneak" her in an ice cream of some kind tomorrow, and a hamburger from a local drive-in. Woo hoo! She is eating so little than *anything* she eats is good for her.

My Little Nephew and I also are close brothers in Christ. So we've spent the evening catching up on the work of God in our lives. And, well, sharing a drink. :-) He is in the other room plucking on a banjo and will spend the night, then go with me to see Mama ER in the morning before he goes back to Texas.

A good report all around. And I can tell you, nothing tastes as good to a patient as "smuggled" food. My mom really devoured a pimentio cheese sandwich I snuck into her when she couldn't stand the offerings at the hospital.

About Me

A Yankee editor friend called me an "erudite redneck." That about sums it up. WHAT I'M READING .....
GORE VIDAL, "Perpetual War for Perpetual Peace: How We Got to Be So Hated" (New York: Thunder's Mouth, 2002).
NIKOS KAZANTZAKIS, "The Last Temptation of Christ" (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1960).